Merry Meet!
We all need a host; ideas to feed from while our palates mature. I drink from the Cup of the Craft, that is, Wicca. I’ve practiced for 3 years as a solitary witch with little formal training. My palate is more refined now so my study habits must follow. I’ve exhausted almost every book published on the subject of Wicca, Witchcraft, the Old Religion, Sabbats, Esbats, and Goddess worship. The question now is “what happens next?”First I built a bookshelf, alphabetized my library, and got some space in my apartment!
The next logical step was to decide what I was looking for at this juncture. I have a daily practice that aids in balancing my energies, grounding my anxiety and connecting me to Divinity….isn’t that what a spiritual practice is all about? Hadn’t I achieved the goal? What more do I need?
After careful introspection, I found a few loose ends….1) A huge part of Wicca is the practice of magick. Don’t get me wrong, I dabble in the different methods but I’m not proficient in a specific magick.
2) I want a connection with other Wicca. How do I expect to grow and learn with no one to bounce off of? I’ve hit my personal ceiling only to realize I’m stuck in a vacuum.
3) Lastly, I am passionate about the Craft, about students of the Goddess being able to find what they need to deepen their spiritual bonds with our Earth Mother.
With all that said, my path starts out as a student who wants to be a teacher. I’ll review as many witch schools as I can, keep you updated on which traditions each school teaches, whether or not they initiate graduates, and whether or not it is possible to become a teacher by completing their program as a student.
Hopefully, by the end of this, we can get to the bottom of who will rip you off, who will give you what you pay for, and who will give you more than you bargained for!
Please let me know of any school suggestions you might have so that I can check into them. Currently, I’m beginning reviews on the
Magicka School www.magickaschool.com
Witch School www.witchschool.com
Stay tuned! Love and light to my fellow travelers! Merry Part
Aphynity
Aphynity 
Firstly, you are very pretty indeed, so watch out for any weirdos on the web. Sorry, can’t help it. I’m 38 and kind of protective towards younger women, animals, and anything vulnerable, even plants. When I was 11, I brought home a plant from school which had been dug up and tossed aside. I felt sorry for it. My dad planted it in our garden and it thrived and grew very big. 🙂
Second, as you are a Witch, (I hope that’s the correct term), I would so very much *love* it if you could do my post: http://tfaswift.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/visual-tribute/
As a Witch, you will totally get this idea. It’s kind of like an altar. I would really love to see your creative addition to this post, which so far has had no replies! 😦 It’s still early days, and I’m hopeful that others will participate, but to have an actual Witch do it would be amazing!
I’m going to do a post asking if any of my readers would like to learn about Witchcraft and make a link to your blog. I don’t have a huge following, but I get between 60 and 120 views a day, so somebody may be interested. At the very least, they may come and check out your very interesting blog.
Thank you so much, you are very kind. You are right and because of things like that, I am very cautious. I love that you saved a plant! Very witchy of you! I will definitely check out your post but I believe that I know which one you are talking about. I actually began blogging because I aspire to be a famous poet. By the way, its almost unheard of while you are still breathing and have a heart beat. I was told that if I could write about something that could gain a decent readership, then I should go ahead and try my hand at self-publishing. At this same juncture, I began my search of witch schools so I figured, why not blog about my experiences as working witch? Long story short, your post was tugging at me…especially the one where you wanted a post about talking to a dead friend. With Samhain fresh in my memory and the passing of a very close friend just last February, I was definitely intrigued!
Since you mentioned it…maybe I should give my pen and paper a visit and jot down some ideas!
I also appreciate the link you are putting up. Its a very nice gesture. Promise, I’ll take good care of anyone who finds their way here from your humble abode
How nice that you think I was “witchy”! Some people might not understand that, but I like it. 🙂
Oh yes, I believe that you are right about gaining a wide readership before publishing something these days. That seems to be the rule. I can’t see how many followers you have here (I don’t think you’ve put that into your widget area) but in case you haven’t already done so, it helps if you connect your blog to Facebook.
You can do it from your dashboard so that a little preview of anything you publish on your blog automatically shows up on your Facebook timeline. And anyone who is your Friend on Facebook automatically shows up in WP as a follower, thereby increasing your readership instantly. If you’re trying to get a big following for your blog so you can get published, then you might like to connect your Facebook following to your blog. I did that and it does actually encourage your Facebook friends to read your work. I get some really nice compliments about my blog when I bump into people who I know on Facebook. They’re not even members of WP, but they still read it.
Also, you can set up a Facebook Page (if you haven’t already) and connect that to your blog. People can click to “like” it. You could make a Facebook Page about Wicca for example. I’m not sure what that does for your readership because I haven’t done it, but some of the hugely popular blogs have got that Facebook Widget visible with hundreds or thousands of “likes”.
Anyway, just some ideas to try to help an aspiring writer. 🙂
Oh Jeez! This is humiliating, haha, but I have no idea how to do any of that. I set up my entire blog using my iphone! I have just recently been able to get on a laptop and mess around with things. When it was suggested that I blog, I thought I would go and set up this little nook in Cyberspace and tap away at my keyboard and Voila! I’d be famous. I’m not quite that simple minded, but you catch my drift. I don’t know what a widget is and I can’t seem to get my pictures to be the right size, hence the black border around some of them. Sorry, but….you are speaking a foreign language. I only know what I want to write about and how to type.
I kind of figure I’ll pick up the rest along the way. Thanks for the tips! I will go and explore, see if I can connect the dots to connect the Facebook. BTW, I am working on a few of your writing assignments. You want some pretty emotionally probing stories! I like it!
This course isn’t exclusively about Wicca, although it is part of the syllabus. I mention it because it’s from a respectable and accredited distance learning school. It’s a Diploma course in Parapsychology (which frankly I would love to study – but again too busy! 😦 ) But anyway, here’s the link in case you want to check it out: https://www.stonebridge.uk.com/course/parapsychology . A bit expensive, but fully accredited and a really diverse course exploring many different aspects of the paranormal including Witchcraft. 🙂
I will check this out and write a post about it! Sounds interesting.
Gosh, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse. Yes, it took me about a month of practically *living* in WordPress to learn all that stuff. Sorry. Just forget about it. Whenever, or if ever, you’d like some help with any of that, I’d be more than happy to explain, if you need. 🙂
Thanks so much for working on something for my blog!! I’m really thankful. 🙂 Yes, it’s kind of my “thing” that I like to challenge my readers with thought-provoking questions. I stopped for a while because I was so busy and people emailed me and complained! So I started it up again.
No, No! Thanks for the tips! I could definitely use some help there! I’ve been so busy checking out the web sites that I write about and attempting to find more that I don’t really spend too much time on here. I stop in to check stats, write posts, check comments not that someone is speaking to me (lol) and I figured out how to pick the theme. I remember that on myspace you could pick a theme and post pictures but that was all through html codes so I haven’t quite figured out how to use this site.
That’s awesome that readers like your questions so much that they complained in your absence. The questions you ask are very thought-provoking! I think there should be more of that…engaging the readers and having them communicate back to you.
Did you notice? I figured out the widget thing! lmao! btw, sorry about my letter to the ghost….i did it from my phone and it wasn’t finished so I went back through and made it presentable.
Hooray! Well done! I knew you’d figure it out. 🙂 I’ve sent you a Facebook friend request.
I thought your letter was great! Thank you so much for participating in the challenge 🙂 People love to read the feedback. Most people don’t leave any (as I said, about 90% of readers are lurkers) but those questions get a lot of hits so I know that people come back to read what other people have answered.
Plus I have seen from my WP Dashboard that quite a few people have been to visit your blog through the post that I did about you. So I hope maybe you got some more followers out of that or at least some interested readers. 🙂
Thank you…many people have been to my blog thanks to your kind words. The post you put up was gorgeous! Thanks again for inviting me to participate in your writing challenges. It was very cathartic.
nice post
Thanks!
:)….:)
Your blog sounds very interesting with alot of good information I’m sure. I will look some more into your posts. Do you do any white magic?
I will be adding a lot more as my formal studies begin. I believe the lessons will take me much deeper than I’ve been able to go alone.
Personally, I don’t believe in white or black magick. I practice magick that doesn’t harm another being. There is a tenet that Wiccans abide by called the Rede and the short version is “Harm none, do what ye will.” I hope that answers your question!
Hello Aphynity! I just wanted to let you know that I have nominated you for the Liebster Award (it’s a blogging award). There are always a bunch of rules (questions etc) attached to these WordPress Awards, and you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. But if you’re interested, you can read my post here, and see if you’d like to display the Award on your blog – http://tfaswift.com/2012/12/07/liebster-award/
🙂
Omg that would be great!! Thank you, you’re such a doll. I will check it out…might need some help figuring out how to post the award haha. I’m still learning!
Sure no problem 🙂 If you decide to do it, and you want some help with how to display the Award on your blog, just let me know. It’s easy when you’ve done it once. Actually, I’ll just tell you now.
Find a Liebster Award that you like (there are other versions if you Google it and then click Images). If you like the one on my blog then just take that one. Right click on the Award that you like. Click “save as” and save into your PC (remember where you save it).
Then go to your Dashboard. Click on Media – Add New. Upload the Award pic. Click Edit and look on the right hand side for the File URL (of the Award image). Copy the whole thing.
Now go to Appearance – Widgets. Look through your Available Widgets for one which says Image. Drag it over into your sidebar. It should pop open. Ignore all the boxes except the one which says Image URL. Paste in there the thing you copied. Then click Save. Now the Award should be visible. You can drag it up or down in your Widget area to position it where you want it.
If you need anything else, or further clarification, just let me know! 🙂